Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi, known as Dragon Ball: Ultimate Blast (ドラゴンボール アルティメットブラスト) in Japan, is a fighting video game based on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise. The game was released by Namco Bandai on October 25th, 2011, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. Namco Bandai released the game in North America on October 25th, 2011,Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi first American trailer, June 30th, 2011 and was released in European countries on October 28th, 2011, and is still to be released in Japan on December 8th, 2011.Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi first European trailer, June 30th, 2011 Overview Development Development team Spike Co. Ltd. in Japan have taken a new approach with the aim of creating a new landmark in the Dragon Ball video game series. The game was announced by Weekly Shônen Jump under the code name Dragon Ball Game Project: Age 2011. Internauts could vote for the name of the game, having the choice between: Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Z, Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Rising, Dragon Ball Z: Awakening Saiyans, Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi, and Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Warriors in Europe and North America. The title Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi was eventually chosen and officially revealed on June 30th, 2011. The first trailer for this video game, still under the name Game Project: Age 2011, was released on May 10th, 2011. The European trailer was released on June 30th, 2011, at Japan Expo 2011. The name Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi was officially revealed primarily and the trailer showcased certain characters of the Saiyan Saga and their attacks, as well as confirmed a release date of October 28th. The demo at the Japan Expo convention included Goku (Base and Super Saiyan), Android 18, Future Trunks, Frieza, Vegeta (Base), Cell (Perfect Form), Broly (Legendary Super Saiyan), and Saibaman. A second trailer was released on June 30th, confirming a release date of October 25th for North America, and displayed several Namek Saga scenes, along with Super Saiyan 3 Goku, and Janemba (First Form). The development team of Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi confimed in an interview that most of the Dragon Ball GT characters will be appearing in this new game, with Super Saiyan 4 returning as well.[http://www.saiyanisland.com/2011/07/dragon-ball-z-ultimate-tenkaichi-developer-interview/ Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi developer interview] Gameplay Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi dives into the Dragon Ball universe with brand new content and gameplay, and a comprehensive character line up. It has faithful manga-style graphics, totally destructible battle fields, and refined controls designed to bring the experience closer to the highly acclaimed ''Budokai Tenkaichi'' series. The character and environment graphics are upgraded since the previous series; characters are drawn straight from the original series and to match the anime and makes it a true Dragon Ball experience. The game features the original Japanese voices and music. “Impact Break” system allows large scale environment destruction. This includes realistic craters and Kamehameha tracers cutting across the sky, delivering a heightened sensation of realism and dynamic immediacy. The controls are designed to bring the experience closer to the previous Budokai Tenkaichi series, making the play accessible to all, but retaining all the tactical depth in battle. Improved mechanics allow for faster long-to-short range fights. The gameplay also includes elements from the ''Budokai'' series, such as Quick Time Events during certain combos. There is also an added health recovery system and a vast collection of more cinematic camera angles. Modes Story Mode The enhanced Story Mode inmerses players in the Dragon Ball universe, and included bonus levels from the Dragon Ball Z movies and from the Dragon Ball GT series. It includes Free-Roam style gameplay similar to the Story Mode of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2. Fifteen animated scenes with bosses are included. Great Apes and other giant characters, such as Janemba (First Form) and Hirudegarn, up to 15x the size of playable characters are featured in boss fights and/or cinematics. The story mode also features digitally remastered scenes from the anime, making it more true to the Dragon Ball series. The Story Mode begins with a battle between Bardock and Frieza, then the battle against Raditz and ends with the final fight between Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta and Omega Shenron. During Free Roam (if playing as Goku), you can Ride the Nimbus Cloud or have another character such as Piccolo follow you. There are also Chase Sequences in the Game found in such instances as a battle between Vegeta and Zarbon. This includes a Chase where you must escape Zarbon without getting to close or risk being defeated, as most villians will not hesitate to fire Ki Blasts if you lag behind. After finishing the battle between Bardock and Frieza, and getting hit by Frieza's Death Ball technique, a cutscene ensues showing the destruction of Planet Vegeta and Goku's arrival on Earth. After the cutscene, it shows flashbacks of Goku and Gohan at the Kame House, Goku taking the powerful blow to the stomach by Raditz, as well as Goku atop the Nimbis Cloud flying alongside Piccolo. The Free Roam screen includes a Dragon Radar used for finding such places as the Story Objectives or the World Tournament, however, if visiting the World Tournament during Story Mode, you will be forced to use the Character you are currently playing as in Story Mode. The screen also includes use of Capsules, a recharge button and a full screen Dragon Radar. Also, certains characters equipped with Scouters may use them as well. This interface is almost no different aside from giving the screen a red tint and including arrows that appear to guide you towards your next Story Objective. You also have the option to locate the Story Objectives or rather, you can hide it and attept to find it on your own. Although this sounds difficult, Story Objectives have a large beam of light that shoot sup from the ground, making them easy to spot at close range. When you reach the Story Objectives and begin a battle, you will find that the Fight Sequences are far more accurate than those found the previous installments. For example, rather than you having to do a Team Super Attack to kill Raditz with a Special Beam Cannon, Goku automatically holds Raditz while Piccolo launches it and destroys them both. This same effect can be seen when defeating Vegeta (Scouter) and executing the Spirt Bomb, or Fusion Spirit Bomb, as it was called in Raging Blast 2 when used as a Team Super Attack. After a battle, a cutscene will ensue, followed by a narration telling you of the events that have taken place since that battle has taken place. After this, you will return to the Free Roam screen and be free to travel to the next Story Objective. Also, several Story Objectives contain Boss Battles, which often take place after defeating certain enemies to a point, such as Vegeta (Scouter). After his apparent defeat, he transforms into a Great Ape. Most bosses can be defeated easily by either punching them or firing Ki Blasts at them. After this they can be taken down easily, often with only a few button combinations. Hero Mode Ultimate Tenkaichi includes a special mode, called "Hero Mode", which allows the player to experience the brand new age of Dragon Ball Z. A "Complete Character Creation & Customization"[http://dragonball.namcobandaigames.com/ultimatetenkaichi/story Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi Official Website] feature was confirmed on July 2011 by Namco Bandai Games. Appearance and attributes can be customized such as model body, face, hair, attire, type of voice your character will have, and fighting style. Additionally fighting style and special moves can be selected. The created characters can roam the world, battle various enemies from the series and share their characters online. Only male characters can be made. The Hero Mode includes its own story with missions similar to that of the story mode, but without anime cutscenes. While training around the world, the Hero meets and fights Captain Ginyu, who gives him a Dragon Ball. Later, the Hero hears of Android 17 and Android 18, he fights them in a city and learns that they possess two Dragon Balls and the Dragon Radar. He spares them after the battle and obtains the Dragon Radar and their two Dragon Balls. During his journey, the signals on the radar disappear. The Hero hears of Piccolo, the reincartion of King Piccolo, and tries to find out if he is behind the recent disasters on Earth. He fights Piccolo on the glacier, and transforms into a Super Saiyan during the battle. He then learns that Piccolo was looking who was responsible for the chaos too. Piccolo tells him that someone gathered the seven Dragon Balls a years ago and wished Ultimate Shenron to make Earth a living Hell. When he was about to confront this person, Piccolo was attacked and injured by a Great Ape. Then, Piccolo offers to train the young Hero. After this, the Hero finds the Great Ape who injured Piccolo, Golden Great Ape Baby, in a city. He defeats him and learns that the person he is looking for is Omega Shenron. He goes where the Dragon Radar displays the location of three Dragon Balls, and finds Omega Shenron. After two confrontations, he defeats Omega Sheron. On Kami's Lookout, the Hero finds Ultimate Shenron controlled by Omega Shenron's negative energy. The eternal dragon attacks the Hero while he was trying to make a wish. Once defeated, Ultimate Shenron grants the Hero's wish to bring back all those who were killed by the chaos Omega Shenron created. Tournament Mode Like many games before it, Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi features a World Martial Arts Tournament mode where up to 16 characters can be registered in a tournament. The difficulty can be changed. It is almost identical previous installments aside from the fact that you can use custom characters to compete. This mode also includes the Stage Destuction, however it is not as in-depth and realistic as the Story, Hero, or Battle Modes. Characters Playable characters #Goku (Base, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, Super Saiyan 3) #Kid Gohan #Teen Gohan (Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2) #Ultimate Gohan #Piccolo #Vegeta (Base, Super Saiyan, Ascended Super Saiyan) #Krillin #Yamcha #Tien Shinhan #Future Trunks (Base, Super Saiyan) #Gotenks (Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 3) #Super Vegito #Super Gogeta # Gogeta (Super Saiyan 4) #Bardock #Raditz #Saibamen #Nappa #Vegeta (Scouter) #Zarbon (Base, Transformed) #Dodoria #Cui #Captain Ginyu (Base, Goku's body) #Recoome #Burter #Jeice #Frieza (1st Form, 2nd Form, 3rd Form, Final Form, 100% Power) #Android 16 #Android 17 #Android 18 #Android 19 #Dr. Gero #Cell (Imperfect Form, Semi-Perfect Form, Perfect Form, Super Perfect Form) #Cell Jr. #Majin Vegeta #Majin Buu #Super Buu (Base, Gohan absorbed) #Kid Buu #Broly (Legendary Super Saiyan) #Super Janemba #Omega Shenron Bosses Story Mode #Great Ape Vegeta #Metal Cooler (nucleus) #Janemba (First Form) #Hirudegarn (Final Form)[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMQs7GASkNk&feature=player_embedded Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi Official Opening Cinema] Hero Mode #Great Ape #Golden Great Ape Baby Vegeta #Ultimate Shenron Stages *Break Wasteland *Rocky Area *Planet Namek *Mountains *Ruined Planet Namek *Ruined City *Islands *Glacier *Cell Games Arena *Hell *Supreme Kai's World *Cave *World Martial Arts Tournament *Temple *Dark Planet *Big Gete Star (Storymode only) Trivia *Some of the in-game cutscenes were recycled from Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, making it a mix between the original Dragon Ball Z dub and the Dragon Ball Z Kai dub, with the new voices and old voices of certain characters swapping around once in a while. *Kid Gohan's 1st and 2nd costumes have his waist stripe colored blue like in the manga. *This is the first game since Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit to have an "Over 9000!" renactment. **However, Vegeta does not break his scouter when saying "It's over 9000!" *Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta's 2nd "color" turns his hair grey which looks similar to the fan-made Super Saiyan 5. Gallery Promotional material Screenshots Characters References External links *[http://b.bngi-channel.jp/dba/ Dragon Ball: Ultimate Blast Official Website] (Japanese) *[http://dragonball.namcobandaigames.com/ultimatetenkaichi/story Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi Official Website] (English) *[http://www.namcobandaigames.com/console/dragon-ball-z-ultimate-tenkaichi Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi overview at namcobandaigames.com] (English) Category:Budokai Tenkaichi series Category:Dragon Ball games Category:Fighting games Category:Video Games Category:Video games where Goku is playable Category:Video games where Vegeta is playable Category:Video games where Gohan is playable Category:Video games where Piccolo is playable Category:Video games where Krillin is playable Category:Video games where Yamcha is playable Category:Video games where Tien Shinhan is playable Category:Video games where Gotenks is playable Category:Video games where Vegito is playable Category:Video games where Gogeta is playable Category:Video games where Bardock is playable Category:Video games where Raditz is playable Category:Video games where Nappa is playable Category:Video games where Saibamen are playable Category:Video games where Cui is playable Category:Video games where Dodoria is playable Category:Video games where Zarbon is playable Category:Video games where Recoome is playable Category:Video games where Burter is playable Category:Video games where Jeice is playable Category:Video games where Captain Ginyu is playable Category:Video games where Frieza is playable Category:Video games where Future Trunks is playable Category:Video games where Dr. Gero is playable Category:Video games where Android 19 is playable Category:Video games where Android 18 is playable Category:Video games where Android 17 is playable Category:Video games where Android 16 is playable Category:Video games where Cell is playable Category:Video games where Cell Juniors are playable Category:Video games where Broly is playable Category:Video games where Majin Buu is playable Category:Video games where Super Buu is playable Category:Video games where Kid Buu is playable Category:Video games where Janemba is playable Category:Video games where Syn Shenron is playable Category:Video Games when you can create/customize characters